Overture Interconnect Cables from Black Rhodium

Posted on 25th January 2018

These silver-based interconnects, presented in blue, have been designed to overcome your sonic blues, Paul Rigby reviews the Black Rhodium Overture cables

The Overture cables are pair of interconnects for those with a healthy budget to hand and they arrive with treasure to boot, in the form of 99.99% silver inside. The hand-made cables, constructed in dear ol’Derby, UK are also insulated in PTFE with a layer of air separating the wire from the inner wall of the insulation.

A braided screen covers the conductors to protect the inner cores from being affected by radio frequency interference (RFI). More attention has been applied to this issue by twisting the cores, which further reduces the effect.

The Overture RCA cables (reviewed here) are terminated with the in-house designed Graham Nalty GN-4 rhodium plated RCA connectors. There is a XLR option too using the Rhodium-plated connectors.

The cables themselves, despite the price, are not bulky. Often high priced cables like to impose themselves upon your hi-fi to justify their price point. Not here, the Overtures are quite unassuming in their build.

SOUND QUALITY

I began with a little bit of orchestral jazz which backed the lovely Nancy Wilson on the uptempo ditty You’ve Got Your Problems. There’s plenty of variation in frequency emphasis here as the track mixes vocals, brass, percussion of varying types, stringed instruments and more.

Right from the off, I could hear a winner here. The low noise characteristics in themselves produced a sublime suite of frequencies that held no tension, no stress and an easy flow that was so alluring that the test track was over before I realised. Such was the effortless and undemanding nature of these cables.

Wilson’s vocal showed a perceptive singer, one whose interpretive abilities were on top form. The Overtures illustrated this because they allowed the sophistication and the refinement of the performance to be illustrated fully. Because the Overtures were so revealing, Wilson’s performance was both considered and meticulous in nature.

In terms of instruement, the blend of bouncy, bass-infused electric guitar lying underneath the rhythmic cymbal taps showed the successful instrumental seperation. Neither intruded on the other’s patch. The midrange never suffered from smearing nor the bass from blooming, the natural precision over the entire frequency range was a feature of note from these cables.

Another plus point from the Overtures were the subtle aspects of the mix. Hence the treble from the cymbals were notable in terms of tonal accuracy, offering a rich ringing tone, while secondary percussion from the tambourine was notable for, not only the ringing nature of the instrument, but the organic slam of the stressed skin across it.

Doing onto my dynamic far and Public Image Limited’s Public Image from the First Issue LP debut. Again, there was a natural flow to the music but the excellent focus around the mids was highlighted in the difficult to track lead vocal. Right from the off midrange insight was present. An example of the same was the brief laugh from lead singer Lydon, right after his multiple “Hello” greeting at the top of the track. I’ve rarely heard this tiny vocal element sound so isolated in terms of the soundstage. The ‘norm’ is that it’s masked by the instruments. The clarity from the Overtures is thus of the highest order. Meanwhile, the ringing from the cymbals, a tone often picked up by other cables, was present but also the little heard initial cymbal strikes that produced the ringing in the first place.

CONCLUSION

Producing a delicate tonal balance with gorgeous midrange insight and a solid, forceful yet tidy bass response, the Black Rhodium Overtures never miss a beat or any available detail, for that matter. But the effort of collecting that information is never experienced, there’s never any sense of tension here. The relaxing and easy nature of the sound is attractive and sonically desirable.

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I’ve been a journalist and editor for 30 years and still retain my good humour. Who’d have thought? I have worked within a range of industries, writing for hundreds of national magazines and newspapers in the UK, Europe and the USA covering: aviation, music, computer technology, computer gaming, hi-fi, mobile technology, home automation, lady’s lifestyle, plastic model making, antiques and more.
I currently write for national magazines in the subjects of business, music, hi-fi and general technology.